Bob and Charlie wrote:
> No. As far as I can tell, _none_ of Scotland is above the tree line.
> According to those who should know, i.e., Donald and Piers, the whole
> country has pretty much been deforested a couple of times and most trees
> there now are being grown as crops. Exceptions, I guess, would be in the
> national parks, which encompass a lot of real estate. But there are those
> here who know better than I.
>
> --Bob Whitmire
> Registered Neanderthal
>
> On Oct 8, 2013, at 9:10 AM, Charles Geilfuss wrote:
>
> Oooooo. Now that is nice. Well done, Bob. Now just to show my ignorance,
> is the whole country above the tree line?
I waited to see if Piers or Donald would provide a few more facts, but in 18
hours they
haven't, so here goes for a partial explanation.
If you look closely at photos taken in Scotland by Bob, Piers, Chris B, and
Donald you will
see plenty of broadleaf trees such as oak and (maybe beech) at lower altitudes.
Look at some photos along shores (and elsewhere) and you will also see some
pine trees.
The native pine of Scotland is - wait for it - called Scots pine ! Pinus
sylvestris, which has the
widest range of any of the many pine species, ranging on the continent from the
west in
France and Norway, right across Russia to the Bering Strait, and from Siberia
in the north to
Spain and Portugal in the south.
I'd be very surprised if at least some of Scotland wasn't above the tree-line
even for the tough
Scots pine, but most of the pine forest was removed.
Reasons? I'd guess for fuel and to clear land for sheep grazing after "The
Clearances" by
English landlords chased the crofters out.
Once the trees were gone ( and you will notice that there are very few left to
act as a seed
source), they could almost never come back naturally. Not only grazing by sheep
and red
deer, but severe competition by bracken fern, rushes, and heather which leaves
in the soil
something that inhibits tree seedling growth ...
Add to these influences to the fact that most people (especially politicians)
can not envisage
planning for more than a few years - the idea of planning a forest which needs
many decades
to get started and under way, is a strange concept to many except those whose
profession is
creating and managing forests :-)
It is an urban concept that grass has to be mown ... :-)
I really like that shot Bob!
Brian Swale
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|